The present invention relates to push button actuator assemblies of the type that may be used to operate latches, locks and other apparatus having links, triggers or other operating elements that need to be moved relatively short distances to accomplish a desired result. More particularly, the present invention relates to panel mountable push button actuator assemblies of the type having a housing with a front portion that can be inserted from the rear side of a panel through a panel opening and secured in place by attaching an annular cap that prevents the inserted front portions of the housing from moving back through the panel opening—a cap that preferably is held in place by a compressed, resilient foam rubber washer that provides a seal between the panel and the cap. Other push button actuator improvement features include seal components that optionally can be incorporated within the housing to prevent the passage of moisture therethrough, and a cam rigidified against bending that may be used with the subject and other forms of push button actuator assemblies.
Push button actuator assemblies that can be installed in openings formed through panels such as control panels, or the upstanding walls of toolboxes, industrial cabinets and the like, are well known. Patent properties of Eberhard Manufacturing Company division of The Eastern Company, owner of the present invention, that disclose panel mountable push button actuator assemblies include U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,449 issued Jun. 29, 2004 to Lee S. Weinerman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,821 issued Apr. 8, 2003 to Lee S. Weinerman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,320 issued Sep. 24, 2002 to Lee S. Weinerman et al, and application Ser. No. 10/227,929 filed Aug. 26, 2002 by Lee S. Weinerman et al, collectively referred to hereinafter as the “Push Button Actuator Patents,” the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Design patents of Eberhard Manufacturing Company division of The Eastern Company that disclose appearance features of push button actuators or linkages that may be attached to and operated by push button actuators include Pat. D-474,673 issued May 20, 2003 to Lee S. Weinerman et al, Pat. D-474,098 issued May 6, 2003 to Lee S. Weinerman et al, Pat. D-472,449 issued Apr. 1, 2003 to Lee S. Weinerman et al, Pat. D-471,427 issued Mar. 11, 2003 to Lee S. Weinerman et al, Pat. D-471,426 issued Mar. 11, 2003 to Lee S. Weinerman et al, Pat. D-467,786 issued Dec. 31, 2002 to Lee S. Weinerman et al, Pat. No. D-464,555 issued Oct. 22, 2002, Pat. D-463,247 issued Sep. 24, 2002, Pat. D-447,042, issued Aug. 28, 2001, and Pat. D-445,015 issued Jul. 17, 2001 to Lee S. Weinerman et al, referred to hereinafter as the Push Button Actuator Design Patents,” the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The push button actuator assemblies disclosed in the referenced Push Button Actuator patents typically feature housings that extend about passages wherein push buttons are mounted for translatory movement between normal, forwardly extended positions, and operated, rearwardly extended positions. Cams are mounted on rear end regions of the push buttons, move forwardly and rearwardly with the push buttons, and may be turned between locked and unlocked positions by turning correctly configured keys that are inserted into keyways defined by the push buttons. When the push buttons are depressed while in an unlocked state (i.e., their cams are in unlocked positions), their cams align with, engage and move links, triggers or other forms of operating elements of latches, locking systems, or the like. When the push buttons are depressed while in a locked state (i.e., the cams are in locked positions), the cams disalign with, fail to engage, and fail to move the links, triggers or other operating elements.
The linkage assemblies that are disclosed in the referenced Push Button Actuator Design Patents are designed to be mounted on and operated by push button actuator assemblies of the type disclosed in the referenced Push Button Actuator Patents; and, the push button actuator assemblies are designed to be installed in openings formed through panels, such as control panels or the upstanding side walls of tool boxes or the like to operate latching and locking components of various types. When one of the push button actuator assemblies is to be installed in a panel opening, installation is effected from the front side of the panel by moving rear portions of the actuator assembly through the panel opening until a position is reached where a rearwardly-facing shoulder of a bezel portion of the actuator's housing engages front surface portions of the panel that surround the panel opening, whereupon the actuator's housing is secured in place, often by installing a U-shaped spring clip on portions of the housing located just behind the panel so that the panel is gripped between the rearwardly-facing shoulder which engages the front side of the panel and the spring clip which engages the rear side of the panel.
A drawback of the “from the front” installation approach just described is that, after an actuator assembly has been installed on a panel by inserting rear portions thereof through a panel opening and fastening the actuator assembly to the panel, a second task remains to be completed, namely the task of installing a linkage assembly onto rear portions of the actuator assembly so that a short-distanced forward-rearward movement provided by a push-button-carried cam of the actuator assembly can be converted by the linkage assembly into appropriate other movements of links, triggers or other operating elements of latching and/or locking systems, and the like. Installation of the linkage assemblies of the type disclosed in the referenced Push Button Actuator Patents and in the Push Button Actuator Design Patents onto push button actuator assemblies must take place after the push button actuator assemblies have completed the “from the front” installation procedure because the linkage assemblies are too sizable to pass through the panel openings in which the push button actuator assemblies are installed.
The push button actuator assemblies disclosed in the referenced Push Button Actuator Patents are not designed to have their housings installed using a “from the rear” approach; rather, all are intended to be installed from a front side of the panel—which means that the sizable linkage assemblies that are designed to attach to rear portions of the housings of the push button actuator assemblies cannot be installed on the housings of the push button actuator assemblies until after the actuator assemblies have first been installed in their associated panel openings because these linkage assemblies are too large to pass through the panel openings.
Often, the task of installing an actuator assembly in a panel opening, and the task of installing a linkage assembly onto rear portions of the actuator assembly housing would be simpler and far easier to accomplish if the linkage assembly could be installed onto rear portions of the actuator assembly's housing before the actuator assembly is installed in a panel opening. However, due to the size of the linkage assembly and its inability to pass through the relatively small panel opening in which the actuator assembly is to be installed, this simpler and easier way of doing things can only be employed if the actuator assembly is capable of being installed utilizing a “from the rear” approach—an approach requiring that the actuator housing have a relatively small front portion which can be inserted through the panel opening whereafter it is somehow locked in place and provided with an annular cap, bezel or escutcheon collar that gives the installed unit very much the same sort of neat, clean and attractive appearance that is achieved when the “from the front” approach is used to install an actuator assembly having a housing with an integrally formed bezel that engages front panel surface portions extending about the panel opening.
Attempting to properly install a linkage assembly onto rear portions of a push button actuator housing after the housing has been installed in an opening of a control panel often means that one must couple the linkage assembly to the actuator housing while working in a confined area where nearby components of a delicate nature may be damaged if a tool or one's hand slips as the linkage assembly is being moved into place and securely connected to rear portions of the housing of an actuator assembly. The need for this close-quarter installation work is side-stepped if the linkage assembly can be connected to the actuator assembly before the actuator assembly is installed on a control panel—which is what can be done if the actuator housing can be redesigned to permit its being installed on a panel by inserting front portions of the housing through a panel opening from the rear side of the panel.
While proposals have been made in an effort to provide a variety of panel-mountable devices with the capability of being installed from the rear side of a panel by providing these devices with front housing portions that can be inserted through panel openings and locked in place by affixing bezels or the like to the inserted front housing portions, such proposals have not proven to be suitable for use with the relatively large push button actuator assemblies that are used to operate elements of latching systems installed on industrial tool boxes and industrial cabinets and the like—latching systems that may employ long links that connect with widely spaced latches that need to be operated concurrently—latching systems that may require sizable applications of force to push buttons to effect unlatching—latching systems that may be subjected to a great deal of use and must function reliably throughout lengthy service lives.